About the Novel:
What If It’s Us is a YA contemporary romance novel by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera. The novel follows the story of Ben, a New York native in summer school with his ex-boyfriend, Hudson, and Arthur, who’s in New York from the summer doing an internship at his mother’s law firm. The two have a meet-cute at the post office and, despite being separated, find each other again and embark on an epic
summer romance.
The Good:
The novel alternates between the perspectives of Ben and Arthur, which allows the reader to explore the relationship from both boys’ perspectives. The language used really succeeded in making it feel like the reader is inside the minds of two teenage boys. There was this authentic feeling awkwardness in the beginning of their romance.
I appreciated how the novel dealt with more than just the couples blossoming romance. It explored other issues that commonly plague teens, such as friendship and school drama, and even divorce and homophobia.
Even the minor characters in this book felt well rounded and likable. One of my favorite characters, Ben’s best friend Dylan, suffers from a congenital heart defect (mitral valve prolapse). As someone with a congenital heart defect, I was pleasantly surprised by this and how it was incorporated into the story.
The Bad:
The same things that I personally found to be positives about the novel, depending on the reader, could also be negatives. Not everyone likes reading books with multiple first person narrators, and at times I found the narrators and their endless pop culture references to be a little insufferable.
I wasn’t a fan of the way the ending was executed. It felt very much over the top and cliché compared to the rest of the novel. Additionally, the epilogue felt entirely unnecessary and didn’t really add anything to the story.
Would I Recommend This Book?:
If you’re looking for a lighthearted, heartwarming and quick read, then I would recommend this book, especially to younger readers. This particular book has made me want to explore other genres more than I currently do.
Overall Score: 9.5/10
